


Snapshots

by Terminality



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Drabble Collection, F/F, F/M, Ficlet Collection, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-01-06
Updated: 2012-01-10
Packaged: 2017-10-29 01:56:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/314578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Terminality/pseuds/Terminality
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of drabbles and ficlets, either made up entirely by me or inspired by requests or ideas from tumblr and friends. Pairings and characters will be added as they pop up in future stories as well as any warning adjustments that I might need to make. Mostly I'll be trying to use these bits to test out new characters and pairings and maybe to try new writing styles, so they probably will be stand alone pieces per story.</p><p>Individual summaries are per drabble or ficlet at the beginning of each.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Replacements

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: Davesprite/Karkat Vantas, one-sided Davesprite/John, one-sided Karkat/Dave. Karkat second person POV. A little ranty and angsty. Just something that jumped in my brain when I saw someone mention the lack of Davesprite/Karkat. Kind of just rolling with it, as part of my "just practice writing and don't think if you have to" rule lately.
> 
> Summary: It's not what you want. But it's as close as you're going to get.

You don't know why you do this to yourself, but you do it anyway, and you can't really stop. It's a silent agreement between the both of you. He comes to you in the middle of the night because he has no need for sleep and because no one will see him coming into your respiteblock. You don't care. You're rarely asleep when he comes to you, anyway, and he's glowing orange cream in the dark of the room, and it's so much better than the darkness. He hovers beside the pile of blankets and pillows you've made on the floor and you look up at him.

"Hey," he says, and you reach out, poking a hand free from the mound of blankets you're in. He lowers himself to rest along the shape of the pile of bedding and he presses his lips against yours without another word or thought. His feathers poke you in the neck and it tickles, but you ignore them, because _he_ wouldn't have them and it ruins it a little when you think about them. He doesn't taste like you think Dave would taste. He's all sharp and metal, something completely not human or troll. A figment of the game still clinging to life.  
It'd be sad, if you really thought about it. You don't let yourself. This is just a distraction, a replacement, something to make you stop hurting so bad. You don't want to think about it too hard, because then you think about the rest of it, and then you feel so awful you want to break everything around you just to make it stop.

Because Dave doesn't want you like that, concupiscent or calignious or even a human relationship. He never will. He's got his eyes set on John and there's no one else in the world to him, and it hurts deep in your chest when you think about it. Humans and their one quadrant.

He touches you all over, weird feathery light touches that don't ever really feel solid. It's almost like he's floating between two kinds of existence, somewhere between real and imaginary, and it's a very strange sensation. He never touches your horns, though; you wouldn't think anything of it if it weren't for the way he obviously moves his hands around them when he plays with your hair. Which makes perfect sense, really, because who he wants doesn't have them, and if he brushes one it will break his illusion. (Like how Dave doesn't really have feathers.) You understand, so you don't get angry with him, because it's the best thing you've got and you don't want to fuck this up, too.

In return for his kisses and touches you let him hold you. He buries his face in your hair and puts his arms around your chest and just lies there with you, clinging to you like you're the only thing keeping him in this world. He'll stay like that for a long while and sometimes you fall asleep, but more often than not you just lie there with him, hands on his wrists or forearms, and you play with the feathers and weird texture of his skin. You're not sure what he's looking for, what gap he's trying to fill by holding on to you like this, but you let him hang on anyway, when you're sure no one else will find out, since it's the best way you can repay him.

When you're lying like this, sometimes you think too much, and it makes you sad that you don't have deeper feelings for him, black or red or really even ashen. Because he's not what you want. You tried to, tried to dig inside yourself to see if you could find any shreds of red feelings, but all you could find was something like the human notion of pity. Sadness for him, or something like that. You don't quite not how it works, but you do know that it's not the same as red pity, and you're sorry for that a little. You think if you could somehow feel that way it would make you less miserable, maybe make him a little less miserable. Even though you have this routine and he hides it well, you can tell in the way his wing droops lower than usual some days, how he watches John when he thinks he isn't looking.

You're sorry for all of this, honestly. Sorry you both have to be here, sorry you both have feelings no one else gives a fuck about. But you don't feel guilty that you are essentially using him, pretending he's someone he isn't, not really. Because Davesprite is doing this for the same reason. You found out the second time he kissed you because he had gotten so lost in the moment he had accidentally called you John. He'd recoiled in horror and you had put your hands on either side of his face and shook your head and said "it's okay." Because you understand.

 _I'll be John and you be Dave and we'll both be miserable fuckasses together._


	2. a time to mourn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanaya/Vriska. Kanaya POV. Death, angst. Implied Tavros/Gamzee if you squint.
> 
> Summary: If only she had noticed.

Vriska's body is lined up with the rest of them, rearranged in a tidy little line on top of the compound. You had ignored it until now because there had been so many other things to worry about. So much has happened in the past few hours. You haven't given yourself much time to think about her, but now everyone is standing near this line of corpses, looking down. Not quiet a ghost-Sollux and Aradia are at the far end, and he is kneeling at Feferi's body and even though he doesn't cry you can sense his pain. Aradia has a small, white hand on his back.

Next to them is Karkat, kneeling between Tavros's corpse and Nepeta's. He is speechless for once but there are bright pink tears staining his face. Gamzee is at his side, which is wrong, because Nepeta is there because of him. You want to tell him so. You don't, because when you look at him and the expression in his eyes while he stares at Tavros, you just can't. Instead you are very, immensely sorry.

Terezi is sitting beside Vriska's body and you are giving her space for now while she mourns. She has a hand on Vriska's lifeless arm and you can't see her eyes through her glasses. You try not to listen to her words, but some drift your way anyway.

"I'm sorry, Vris. I had to," she says, and your chest hurts. You try not to show it.

The humans are standing in the back, waiting. They had suggested disposing of the bodies before we continued on and you had agreed, hoping to clear the air and help everyone focus on the matter at hand. You stand near them. You will go to her when everyone else is gone.

Gamzee is the last to leave and Karkat has to grab his hand and put his arm around his waist to get him to move. If you hadn't known better you would think the indigo on his face was tears, not blood. Maybe it is. You aren't quite sure of anything any more.

When they have gone back inside you walk past them all, starting at Feferi, and you say "I'm sorry" in a very quiet, soft voice to each one. You stop when you reach Vriska. The blueberry smell of her blood makes your skin crawl and you kneel at her side and look into her face.

"You are so foolish, Vriska. Had you maybe paid attention," you stop, because you can't keep going.

If she had only noticed. If she had only listened. Maybe you could have talked her out of it. Maybe you could have prevented it.

You thought you were over this, but you were wrong. You don't realize you are crying until there are little splashes of jade on Vriska's face.

You are so very, very flushed for her, and it hurts so bad. If only she had noticed, instead of going after Tavros. There are so many maybes rushing in your head, and you are especially sorry to her, because maybe if you had tried harder and had been there for her she wouldn't had to have died.

Rose lays a hand on your shoulder. You realize you are gripping Vriska's hand and that your own is damp with pale jade.

"Kanaya, let's finish up here." You nod, but when you try to stand, your legs feel like jelly. She helps you up and doesn't say anything about it. You will thank her for it later, when you can think about someone other than Vriska. You stay and watch as Rose points her wand and drifts the bodies toward the sun, a burning green funeral pyre.

That night you dream of blueberries.


	3. red and teal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aradia/Terezi, upon request on my reverse-prompt in the Homestuck kink meme. Short, fluffy drabble.

It's the first time that they've seen her alive in a very long time, and Aradia knows that they are staring. She opens her mouth to say something and finds she is only able of letting out a rather pathetic little "hello" because, really, she doesn't know what else to say in greeting to this small group of her friends. A lot has happened, to her and them, and she doesn't know where to start.

She barely has time to think about it before Terezi is leaping at her from several feet away, a flurry of red and teal, and she catches her in her arms and pulls her in tight for a hug. Terezi is clinging to her shirt with that silly, sharp grin of hers on her face, and Aradia smiles back because it's contagious.

"I'm so glad you're here, Aradia. You smell bright and delicious and _alive_ ," she says, all giddy happiness and long, skinny arms around Aradia's chest. It's been quite a while since they've seen each other in person and Aradia hugs her back enthusiastically. She's wearing her FLARPing outfit and she can see the little spots of blue blood that are on her hands, but she decides to wait until later to talk about those things.

"It's been a while, hasn't it," Aradia says, and Terezi nods against her chin. She pulls back to look up in the direction of Aradia's face and although she can't see it, she grins down at her.

"Too long! You've got bad manners, keeping a pretty lady like me waiting," she says, and she stands up straighter and kisses Aradia on the cheek, soft and quick.


End file.
